on not looking back

I can't believe it's almost a week since my last post, how quickly time seems to be flying by.  There is a lot going on for me at the moment and I thought I'd choose a card to see if it could give me any inspiration.  The card I chose was from Crowley's Thoth deck and it was the Prince of Cups.

I have always really loved this card.   For some reason it makes me think of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.  I see this prince as Orpheus, about to journey to the underworld in search of his lost bride.  He is determined and sorrowful at once.  The link with this card to the Astrological sign of Scorpio also links to the concepts of passion, and death. 

Crowley describes how this card represents the airy part of water and says; "On the one hand, elasticity, volatility, hydrostatic equilibrium; on the other hand, the catalytic faculty and the energy of steam."  To me, when I consider this I see the figure on the card as demonstrating such composure and strength and yet, beneath the surface is an increasing fire, ready to blow off the lid of this calm veneer and explode like the steam that erupts from a boiling kettle.  And steam burns! 

In the myth of Orpheus he is able to recover his lost bride, but despite promising not to look back on his return trip he is unable to help himself and then loses Eurydice for a second time.  His resolve vanishes, he has now lost everything.  The once sweet song become mournful, the light disappears.

So what does this all mean?  My disappointments of the past week have left me feeling rather subdued.  I have remained calm on the surface but perhaps this Prince is here to remind me that there may be other emotions bubbling away under the surface.  Perhaps the best thing I can do is to accept the inevitable, and not look back.